Dyeing of textiles is often considered to be the most important and expensive single step in the manufacturing of textile fabrics and garments. In the textile industry, two major types of processes, batch and continuous, are currently used for dyeing. In the batch process, among others, jets, drums, and vat dyers are used. In continuous processes, among others, padding systems are used. See, e.g., I. D. Rattee, In C. M. Carr (Ed.), "The Chemistry of the Textiles Industry," Blackie Academic and Professional, Glasgow, 1995, p. 276.
The major classes of dyes are azo (mono-, di-, tri-, etc.), carbonyl (anthraquinone and indigo derivatives), cyanine, di- and triphenylmethane and phthalocyanine. All these dyes contain chromophoric groups which give rise to color. Two classes of dyes, vat and sulfur dyes, are applied to materials by an oxidation/reduction mechansim. The purpose of the oxidation/reduction step is to change the vat or sulfur dyestuff between an insoluble and a soluble form.
The dominant chemical class of dyestuffs is azo dyes. Most commonly, azo dyestuffs are manufactured as the dye, then applied to a material to color the material. In a variation of this technology, known as azoic dyeing, coupling between the strongly electrophilic diazonium ion and a nucleophilic compound leads to formation of colored azo compounds in situ on the material. The mechanism and process for azoic dyeing are described, for example, in Colorants and Auxiliaries, Volume 1--Colorants, Society of Dyers and Colourists, West Yorkshire, England, 1990 and Cellulosics Dyeing, Society of Dyers and Colourists, West Yorkshire, England, 1995.
Oxidoreductases, e.g., oxidases and peroxidases, are well known in the art.
One class of oxidoreductases is laccases (benzenediol:oxygen oxidoreductases) which are multi-copper containing enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of phenols and related compounds. Laccase-mediated oxidation results in the production of aromatic radical intermediates from suitable substrates; the ultimate coupling of the intermediates so produced provides a combination of dimeric, oligomeric, and polymeric reaction products. Such reactions are important in nature in biosynthetic pathways which lead to the formation of melanin, alkaloids, toxins, lignins, and humic acids.
Another class of oxidoreductases are peroxidases, which oxidize compounds in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.
Laccases have been found to be useful for hair dyeing. See, e.g., PCT applications Serial No. PCT/US95/06815 and PCT/US95/06816. European Patent No. 0504005 discloses that laccases can be used for dyeing wool at a pH in the range of between 6.5 and 8.0.
Saunders et al., Peroxidase, London, 1964, p. 10 ff. discloses that peroxidases act on various amino and phenolic compounds resulting in the production of a color.
Kunz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,041, discloses a hair dyeing composition containing a combination of aromatic diamine, e.g. 1,4-phenylenediamine (developer), .alpha.-naphthol (coupler), an oxygen-oxido-reductase/substrate system and a peroxidase. Kunz further teaches that the preferred coupler substance comprises a substituted m-phenylenediamine.
French Patent 2,112,549 discloses dyeing hair with an aqueous solution containing oxidase enzyme and aromatic compounds, such as aromatic diamines, phenols, and derivatives of these, that are precursors for oxidative color. Sulfonated and carboxylated aromatic diamines and phenols are disclosed. The use of laccase is disclosed.
Roure et al., European Patent 504,005, discloses that 1-naphthol (.alpha.-naphthol), 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene, 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene are known oxidative couplers for hair dyeing that can be used in combination with aromatic diamines, such as 1,4-phenylenediamine and N-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine, and with laccase enzyme.
Peck, U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,202 discloses a method of dyeing animal fibers, such as fur, animal pelts, and the like, comprising the steps of applying to the animal fibers an aqueous solution of a tyrosine or dioxyphenylalanine propigment followed by applying an oxidase, such as tyrosinase or polyphenolase.
Soloway, U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,742 discloses a method for coloring hair using a polyhydric aromatic compound, aromatic amine, and an oxidation enzyme.
Yaver et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,531 discloses a dye composition for dyeing hair, wherein the composition contains a laccase and a dye precursor and optional coupler of the types disclosed by Soloway (e.g., phenylenediamine and aminophenol).
Japanese Patent Application publication no. 6-316874 discloses a method for dyeing cotton comprising treating the cotton with an oxygen-containing medium, wherein an oxidation reduction enzyme selected from ascorbate oxidase, bilirubin oxidase, catalase, laccase, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase is used to generate the oxygen.
WO 91/05839 discloses that oxidases and peroxidases are useful for inhibiting the transfer of textile dyes.
However, none of these citations suggests or discloses the use of combinations of dye intermediates in which at least one intermediate is an aromatic diamine and at least one intermediate is either a naphthol or an aminonaphthalene, in combination with an oxidizing enzyme, particularly when the naphthol is anything other than unsubstituted .alpha.(alpha)-naphthol, halogenated 1-naphthol, or unsubstituted dihydroxynapthalene, or when one or more of the dye intermediates is substituted with a sulfonic acid (or salt thereof), a carboxylic acid (or salt thereof), a sulfonamide, or a quaternary ammonium salt.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved enzymatic methods for dyeing textile materials.